GSPL India Transco Ltd, the Gandhinagar-based firm which would be implementing the project, has awarded the project management consultancy services contract to EIL, the state-owned firm said in a statement here.

The project consists of about 2,000-km of natural gas pipeline, involving 1,650 km of trunk line plus 350 km of spur lines along with other facilities like dispatch and receipt terminals, telecom/SCADA network and metering facilities.

The pipline will transport gas from Andhra offshore fields like those in Krishna Godavari basin to Bhilwara in Rajasthan.

GITL is a special purpose vehicle formed to execute the Rs 7,225 crore Mallavaram-Bhopal-Bhilwara-Vijaipur pipeline project.

"Traversing through total 27 districts of four states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the pipeline has a considerably challenging terrain," it said.

Targeted for a capacity to transport 76.25 million standard cubic meters of natural gas per day, the project is expected to be completed in a time schedule of 30 months, EIL said but did not give financial details of the contract.

EIL will be providing engineering consultancy services which include preparation of pre-bid documents and shall function as 'Owner's Engineer' apart from providing project management consultancy and construction supervision services.

"EIL shall also be responsible for materials management, quality assurance, and assistance in pre-commissioning and commissioning of the project," the statement added.